1. Scope of Invention
This invention relates generally to collection and disposal of cardboard refuse, and more particularly to a manually operated apparatus for collecting and facilitating bundling of compressed cardboard refuse such as flat pieces of cardboard and collapsed cardboard boxes.
2. Prior Art
The world, and particularly the industrial world, has become considerably more interested in preserving our environment and in the recycling of various forms of refuse, rather than simply creating huge mountains or landfills of such refuse adjacent urban areas for long-term decay. Not only are important natural resources of the world being depleted, but the long-term effects of decaying refuse heaps are impacting upon these urban areas as they grow.
One such recyclable material is in the form of cardboard formed from relatively stiff corrugated paper stock material. Such cardboard refuse may be in the form of either flat pieces of cardboard or cardboard boxes which are easily collapsed or knocked down into a flattened configuration. This cardboard refuse is highly recyclable, thus not only conserving trees as our source of paper, but also substantially reducing environmental pollution during the burning of cardboard as an alternative to refuse landfill decay.
Dealing with the collection and removal of flat pieces of cardboard and collapsed cardboard boxes, however, is not an easy task. Typically, stacks of such cardboard refuse are piled high and then, when of sufficient height, the cardboard refuse is then bundled by lashing or banding the material for removal. Considerable floor space is required and such stacks are typically messy, requiring straightening and alignment of cardboard edges prior to bundling. Additionally, the lifting and removal of a cardboard bundle laying flat atop the ground is difficult when done by one person.
Applicant is aware of a manual refuse compactor apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,904 and invented by Loveland. This patent teaches a compact home-sized refuse compactor having spaced stationary and movable horizontally disposed platens. However, this arrangement is not well suited for the collection and bundling of cardboard refuse and requires excessive floor space.
The present invention provides a preferably wall-mountable apparatus for collecting cardboard refuse therewithin stacked edgewise on a regular or daily basis until such time as the storage space defined by the invention becomes full. At that time, a movable platen is manually forced against the cardboard refuse to compress and hold same until the compressed cardboard refuse is lashed together into a bundle for manual removal.